Punisher: Legacy of a Madman (Marvel NEW)/Issue Four
The fourth and final issue of Punisher: Legacy of a Madman takes place immediately after the events of the previous issue. Synopsis Punisher has his final battle with his new arch nemesis Jigsaw. Plot Frank Castle wakes up in a ditch. He questions what happened but quickly remembers everything Russo did, thanking God for the fact he was wearing a bulletproof vest. He questions why he passed out from just a few non-lethal shots to the back but then remembers his fight with Ivan and claims that everything makes sense. He then remembers Lynn, who is lying dead beside him. Frank takes a few moments to mourn before promising that no one's death will go in vain and that he is going to kill Russo for everything he's done. Frank crawls his way out of the ditch and calls Chip, telling him that he wants him to track down the location of Billy Russo. Meanwhile, Russo, now calling himself Jigsaw, breaks into the CIA headquarters with his men, who murder everyone in sight. Jigsaw bursts into the office of his replacement, who is terrified at the sight of Jigsaw. Jigsaw is ready to kill the newest Director, but the Director actually manages to calm him down. The two have a short conversation, where Jigsaw's persona breaks down and he confesses that he thought he was the hero in all this, but after everything he's done he's not sure anymore. The Director attempts to comfort him, but his madness returns when the Director refers to him as "Billy". He smacks the Director with the back of his fist, proclaiming that his name is Jigsaw before unloading countless bullets into the Director. Outside the building, a bleeding man is dragging himself along the road when a boot steps in front of him. The man looks up and sees Frank staring down at him, demanding to know where Russo is. The man points to the CIA headquarters and Frank begins marching towards it while Chip attempts to help the bleeding man. While marching into the building, the gangsters inside attempt to kill Frank, who shoots them all up in a massive bloodbath. He storms the hallways, murdering everyone who tries to shoot at him before they even can before getting into a fight with another rather large gangster. Frank is so enraged at this point all he does is get on the man's back and choke him to death before bursting into Russo's office. Jigsaw himself speaks very calmly, even welcoming Frank and asking if he wants to see what he's been doing. Jigsaw takes Frank to something on a table. Frank is visibly disturbed by it and Jigsaw asks him what he thinks, revealing it to be the dead body of the Director, who has been cut open by Jigsaw. Jigsaw then picks up a box and states that he has three more of them and that each one has a different one of the Director's organs in them. He goes on to state he's going to mail them to the people who fired him as a message that they shouldn't have. He then hands the box to Frank, telling him to rattle it and see if he can guess what's inside. In response, Frank throws the box and begins beating Jigsaw, who grabs the scalpel he used to cut open the Director and shoving it into Frank. Frank instantly pulls it out and throws Jigsaw into a wall. Jigsaw manages to pick himself up and runs out of the room, Frank following after. Frank manages to keep up with Jigsaw, who runs into another room. He bursts down the door and instantly ducks as fire blasts just above him. Jigsaw comes out wielding a flamethrower and claims that he and Frank aren't actually that different. He gives a short speech where he once again claims that he is the hero, only for Frank to claim that Hitler thought he was the hero too. Jigsaw the snaps, trying to burn Frank to death, but all he manages to do is light the building on fire. Jigsaw quickly realizes what he's done and once again runs to the top of the building, this time managing to get to the helicopter, which is piloted by one of his men. He believes that he's gotten away safely only to hear gunfire right outside the helicopter. He looks out and spots Frank hanging on the helicopter's ladder. Jigsaw lets out a "goddamn it" before grabbing a machine gun and shooting at Frank. Neither of the two manages to hit each other, but Frank does accidentally kill the helicopter's pilot, causing it to go completely out of control. Realizing that they're actually very close to a city and are about to crash, Frank crawls into the helicopter and, despite the massive amounts of stress, manages to land it. Immediately afterward, Jigsaw grabs Frank and throws him out of the helicopter, the two continue their fight just outside of the city. The two punch, stab and shoot at each other with all their might, Jigsaw managing to grab Frank and scrapes his head along some jagged rocks as payback for his face. Frank, now heavily injured and bleeding from the right side of his face, pulls out his final grenade and throws it at Jigsaw. Sadly, in his weakened state, he doesn't get it very far, so when it finally explodes both himself and Jigsaw are sent flying. Both men are now extremely damaged, bloodied, and bruised, laying face first on the ground. They both look up and begin crawling towards each other, Frank pulling out a knife and Jigsaw grabbing an extremely sharp rock. They get just a few inches away from each other and raise their weapons to deal the final blow but both men are so exhausted by this point they pass out right beside each other. Frank wakes up back in Chip's van covered in bandages and stitches. He spots Chip at the driver's seat rubbing his head. Chip notices Frank and begins talking to him, revealing that he knew the risks of joining Frank but that the stress of working for him is getting to him. Chip reminds Frank that he isn't a doctor, so it's a miracle that he managed to patch Frank up. He then states that Frank's war on crime has cost so many people their lives in just a few days. Frank asks what he's saying, with Chip claiming that he isn't sure and that he just wants to see his family for a bit. The van stops in front of Chip's house and both Frank and Chip get out of it. Frank questions Chip where Russo is, but Chip confesses that he isn't sure since when he got Frank he was long gone. They enter the house and Chip calls on his wife, who tells him that she's upstairs. She reveals that she hasn't seen him in a long time and asks where he's been. Chip claims that it was a "work thing" and that he has a friend from his work here with him. Frank and Chip walks upstairs and enters his wife's bedroom, Chip saying that he told her about him before. Both Frank and Chip go completely silent in terror and Jigsaw is seen sitting on the bed, Chip's wife, daughter and son tied to chairs and Jigsaw holding his infant daughter. Jigsaw applauds Chip's wife, asking if she's an actress because she was brilliant. Frank tries to storm at Jigsaw, only for Chip to hold him back due to Jigsaw holding his baby. Jigsaw then gets up and gives a very short speech, where he claims that Frank's statement about him not being a hero changed something in him. He realized something: he's not the hero. Frank is. And he's the villain of the story. He then drops the baby, who is luckily caught by Frank. Frank has his head kicked into a heater by Jigsaw, who continues to do so over and over until Chip jumps on him and begins beating him. Jigsaw throws Chip off and is tackled out of the window by Frank, who begins punching Jigsaw over and over until his own knuckles begin to bleed from how much he's been hitting him. Frank gets ready to shoot Jigsaw, only to spot Chip and his family looking at him in horror. Jigsaw tells Frank to do it and shoot him, claiming that Frank shooting him will complete his story. In response, Frank gets off Jigsaw and begins walking away. Jigsaw, enraged, attempts to tackle Frank, only for Frank to punch him so hard he's knocked out instantly. After all this, Frank apologizes to Chip and his family, only for his wife to ask why he's apologizing, stating that he's the man who just saved their lives. Frank is shocked by this but accepts the kindness, claiming that this is probably the first nice moment he's had in a while. It suddenly cuts to Frank eating dinner with Chip and his family, Chip's wife calling the police on Jigsaw before sitting down at the table. Frank looks at Chip and sees how happy he is with everyone he loves and thinks back to his own family and how he lost them. After dinner, Chip asks why Frank didn't kill Jigsaw, with him quoting Lynn by claiming the worst thing he could've done is leave him to think about his actions. Frank then recounts his origin story to Chip and tells Chip he doesn't want him to lose his family too. Chip asks what Frank is talking about, with him telling Chip that he's fired. Chip looks back at his family before thanking Frank and running over to them. Frank then walks off into the distance, with narration captions from Chip stating that some believe that the Punisher is a madman and that this is his legacy, but that he believes the Punisher is a soldier who never stopped fighting a war, ending his statement by claiming he's not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but that he still stands by his belief that the Punisher is needed. Category:Marvel NEW Category:Comics